BLUE JACKETS 5, HURRICANES 1: R.J. Umberger had his first hat trick of the season and host Columbus put a major dent in Carolina's playoff hopes.

Steve Mason turned aside 39 shots to improve to 4-0-0 lifetime against the Hurricanes and snapped their four-game winning streak. The defeat left Carolina seven points back of eighth place in the Eastern Conference with just seven games remaining.

Vinny Prospal added a goal and an assist and Derick Brassard collected three assists for league-worst Columbus, which has beaten Carolina five consecutive times.

Hurricanes netminder Cam Ward had his three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 0-4-0 lifetime against the Blue Jackets, who won for only the second time in seven games.

With Columbus leading 1-0, Umberger broke the team's 10-game power-play drought at the nine-minute mark of the second period.

Drayson Bowman stuffed his own rebound past Mason four minutes later to cut the deficit in half, but Umberger restored the two-game cushion 80 seconds later for his second two-goal game of the season.

Umberger completed his hat trick with 5:02 in regulation to sink Carolina.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Umberger recorded his first hat trick since Nov. 30, 2009. He had scored just twice in the past 18 games since his only other multi-game game this season on Feb. 11. ... The Blue Jackets had failed to convert on 35 chances with the man advantage before Umberger's first tally. The team record of 42 was set last season. ... Carolina went 0 for 5 with the man advantage, including 90 seconds of a 5-on-3 to open the third period. ... The Hurricanes haven't won in Columbus since March 2004.